Thin film solar cells that are composed of percolating networks of liquid electrolyte and dye-coated sintered titanium dioxide were developed by Dr. Michael Gratzel and coworkers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. These photovoltaic devices fall within a general class of cells referred to as dye sensitized solar cells (“DSSCs”). Conventionally, fabrication of DSSCs requires a high temperature sintering process (>about 400° C.) to achieve sufficient interconnectivity between the nanoparticles and enhanced adhesion between the nanoparticles and a transparent substrate. Although the photovoltaic cells of Gratzel are fabricated from relatively inexpensive raw materials, the high temperature sintering technique used to make these cells limits the cell substrate to rigid transparent materials, such as glass, and consequently limits the manufacturing to batch processes and the applications to those tolerant of the rigid structure. Furthermore, while DSSCs with a liquid electrolyte have reported solar conversion efficiencies approaching those obtained for silicon and other inorganic photovoltaic cells, the liquid electrolytes are apt to leak, which creates not only environmental issues, but also long-term stability issues.